Will Queen Elizabeth Be Well Enough to Anoint Britain’s New Prime Minister?

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Sources close to Queen Elizabeth II this week told The Daily Beast that, in a matter of weeks, she plans to spend the summer at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, and went down to London to perform one of her most important constitutional duties; invites a new prime minister to form a government in his name.

A source told The Daily Beast, “It is expected that she will take a break from her Balmoral holiday to return to London doing the PM transition work.” The source said that the “actual location” will be confirmed closer to time, in an attempt to avoid some errors, but the reality is that now, if the 96-year-old queen does not make the long journey to London for the richly iconic event on Tuesday, September 6, new disappointments and speculations about her Official health declaration will happen later.

The Queen’s determination to officially anoint the new Prime Minister arrives despite disappointment this week as the queen is forced to cancel another public appearance. This time it was a ceremony in which the queen was welcomed to Scotland, with a small procession outside the Balmoral gates, which had been pivoted and relocated within the castle walls.

The need for the queen to welcome a new Prime Minister has been mooted by Britain’s ruling Conservative party that rejects Boris Johnson as its leader. Under Britain’s parliamentary system, the new party leader (probably right-wing Liz Truss) becomes the new Prime Minister and that new Prime Minister must be invited by the queen to form a government.

And sure, there’s no denying that if all goes well, the resulting photo shoot will be a dramatic reminder to those who think the queen is too old and too weak to do the job. own and should resign.

Photographs of ancient rituals — never filmed but were memorably screenplayed by Peter Morgan Queen, with Helen Mirren as the Queen and Michael Sheen as Tony Blair – often popularized in the press. The crown of the last but one Prime Minister, Theresa May, is the subject of particular debate after the new leader genuflecting images in front of the queen.

So the reward, if it succeeds, will be another great ta-da moment for the queen, following the Jubilee’s impressive double ta-da in which HM’s two balconies appearedresplendent with lilac and green, respectively, the greatest theatrical minds can only dream of.

But what if the grand plan for September goes the way of the small ceremony that was planned to take place outside the Balmoral Gate this week?

Chris Jackson / Getty

Although a source told The Daily Beast that the Scottish change of plans was made to protect the queen’s “comfort”, one couldn’t help but feel that the last minute was ripping and rushed. gold rearranges the schedule to create a “private” moment that also does a fair bit of work with the absence of TV cameras, photographers, reporters or the public, thus allowing for a continuity of the story which, aside from some well-defined mobility issues, the queen is fine.

Some observers are now questioning whether HM is really the wisest thing to do to set off a very public motion by saying she will hold the high-profile ceremony in London instead of doing the there by video link, ask the new Prime Minister to come to Balmoral or send Charles to replace her like she did to the official opening of the state’s National Assembly this year.

Because what if she’s having a bad day, hence six weeks, and the queen has to cancel at the last minute?

It will look like a rerun of Cop26 debacle last year, where a she-won’t-do story sucked a lot of oxygen ahead of the environmental conference, and the queen’s final decision completely overshadowed the actual message of the event. .

And behind all of this, of course, is a big question: what really happened to the queen and how will it affect her ability to do her job?

Joe LittleManaging Editor of King told The Daily Beast: “I would be surprised if the 96-year-old monarch came to London for this purpose next month and wondered if it was really necessary for her to meet in person the 15th British prime minister. myself or not. It can’t be done virtual, as is the case with the upcoming ambassadors to the UK? Or perhaps the new prime minister could fly to Scotland and be received by the queen at Balmoral.”

There’s an element of ruthless image management to all of this, Little adds, saying: “Buckingham Palace has always wanted to avoid any inference that HM is weak and it is accepted that she remains in power. so many. That’s how she likes it. However, that has proven to be difficult. “

Indeed, the queen’s unwillingness to be seen as anything other than a perfectly capable and talented person is one of the defining features of the long and bumpy road to “London Bridge,” because the queen’s death was officially named.

The British media, for the most part, are happy to play with, and don’t seem to ask too many questions about what exactly the queen wants us to not see. The palace reacted irritably to even modest suggestions that the queen might be using a wheelchair and made an outing with her luxury golf cart back in June, the queen seemed less enthusiastic about being re-enacted on it.

Anything is really wrong with the queen — and the Royal Family have been told by sources that it’s everything from catastrophe (bone cancer) to the more trifles of old age (a bad hip). should really be replaced) — the palace goes on to emphasize that she is, essentially, fine, and just suffers from “battery migration issues.”

But what is obvious, most notably, is the cancellation of events and her frail appearance when she is seen, leading observers to conclude that this is far from the case. The truth about the queen’s health may never be known, maybe it’s just the way she wants to.